As a general, Ulysses S. Grant is routinely described in glowing terms: the man who turned the tide of the Civil War, who accepted Lee's surrender at Appomattox; the man who had the stomach to see the war through to final victory. But his presidency is another matter. The most common word used to characterize it is scandal.

Grant is routinely portrayed as a man out of his depth, whose trusting nature and hands-off management style opened the federal coffers to unprecedented plunder. But that caricature does not do justice to the realities of Grant's term in office, as Josiah Bunting shows in this provocative assessment of our 18th President.

Grant came to Washington in 1869 to lead a capital and a country still bitterly divided by four years of civil war. His predecessor, Andrew Johnson, had been impeached and the Radical Republicans in Congress were intent on imposing harsh conditions on the southern states before allowing them back into the Union. Grant made it his priority to forge the states back into a single nation, and Bunting shows that despite the troubles that characterized Grant's term in office, he was able to accomplish this most important task, very often through the skillful use of his own popularity with the American people.

Grant was indeed a military man of the highest order, he was also a better president than he is often given credit for. Download and start listening now!

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Listener Opinions

Rick | 2/16/2012

" Three stars for the book; five for Grant as general; three for grant as president; five for Grant as world traveler; five for Grant as writer and author; one for Grant as business man; and last but not least, four for me as reader (I don't want to sound arrogant). "

Ross Rosenfeld | 8/5/2011

" There were times that Mr. Bunting was evasive with certain names, and other times that he used excessive language, I felt, but, all in all, this was a solid, concise biography. "

Richard | 7/14/2011

" delightful and easy to read, and concise account of Grant's life...from his Ohio roots, to his service in the Mexican War, to his exit and return to the miltary, to his ascendency to the great general, to his presidency. "

David R. | 7/17/2010

" A superficial treatment. "

K.C. | 2/16/2010

" I didn't know that much about Grant other than he was a drinker and savior of the Civil War. I ended up really liking him. He seemed to be an honorable man and he loved his wife! He wasn't the best prez but he wasn't the worst. "

Katie | 3/20/2009

" The author's my boss and his book is pretty good and a quick read. "

Richard | 7/8/2008

" delightful and easy to read, and concise account of Grant's life...from his Ohio roots, to his service in the Mexican War, to his exit and return to the miltary, to his ascendency to the great general, to his presidency.
"

K.C. | 12/16/2007

" I didn't know that much about Grant other than he was a drinker and savior of the Civil War. I ended up really liking him. He seemed to be an honorable man and he loved his wife! He wasn't the best prez but he wasn't the worst.
"

Katie | 3/8/2007

" The author's my boss and his book is pretty good and a quick read.
"

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